Nitrogen turns off-turf Wonder Again into laugher; A. P. Kid ascends in Pennine Ridge

After a deluge at Saratoga, track officials decided to alter the Saturday stakes originally scheduled for the turf. The two turf stakes for sophomores, the $261,000 Wonder Again (G3) and $300,000 Pennine Ridge S., were transferred to the main track and shortened to a mile. The Grade 1 turf contests, the Jaipur (G1) and Manhattan (G1), were postponed to Sunday.

The Wonder Again switch was no problem for 2-5 favorite Nitrogen, who cruised by 17 lengths to extend her winning skein to five. In contrast, the Pennine Ridge lost its key players when it came off the turf, and A. P. Kid rolled past favored pacesetter Mi Bago to score his first stakes victory.

As a result of the change in conditions, the Wonder Again and Pennine Ridge were automatically downgraded, pending review by the American Graded Stakes Committee.

Wonder Again (G3)

D. J. Stable’s homebred Nitrogen had the pedigree to act on the slop, as a daughter of Medaglia d’Oro and the stakes-placed Uncle Mo mare Tiffany Case. But given her status as a top-class turf performer, was it worth it to persevere in the Wonder Again? Or would it be advisable to keep her in the barn and wait for another day?

The connections of several logical turf opponents – Laurelin, Al Jafara, Opulent Restraint, Virgin Colada, and Love You Anyway – all opted to scratch. Nitrogen’s camp was on the fence about the best way to proceed.

“I consumed a lot of ginger today,” trainer Mark Casse said afterward. “I don’t usually get too worried about things, but when you have a horse like her, and she’s established herself as the best three-year-old turf filly in North America, you don’t want to hurt her.

“Luckily, we have a great team and we keep lots and lots of records. I went back and watched her work on Dec. 19 (at Palm Meadows) with Dream On, and she worked five-eighths on the dirt in a minute and change and galloped out in (1:13), and I’m like, ‘Yeah, maybe we’ll run her.’

“We hemmed and hawed and hemmed and hawed, and (the owners) kind of pushed me, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s do it.’ When you have owners like (Leonard and Jon Green), you don’t have to worry about getting ran over the coals if you make a move, and that’s everything. And we have a wonderful group of owners that let us do what we do. We know that if it isn’t right, because a lot of times it isn’t right, that we’re going to be OK.”

Nitrogen was certainly OK with the decision. Stablemate Bessie Abbott also stayed in, and the 5-1 shot served as Nitrogen’s lead horse. The only other to take her chance, the 2.10-1 May Day Ready, never looked like catching up as the trailing third.

Bessie Abbott gave Nitrogen a target through fractions of :24.88 and :47.89, but jockey Jose Ortiz could not restrain the favorite thereafter. Striking rapidly on the far turn, Nitrogen was already gone by the six-furlong mark in 1:11.54. She glided 10 lengths ahead in midstretch and made it 17 when crossing the wire in 1:36.16.

Nitrogen’s performance posed a counterfactual: what if she had run in Friday’s Acorn (G1) against the leading three-year-old fillies on dirt? Casse had that covered anyway, with La Cara pulling the upset. But Nitrogen could give him more options in the division. 

“Maybe I should have run her on the dirt a little sooner,” Casse said. “She ran a mile in (1:36.16) and probably could have run in (1:34), so she was pretty impressive. I know it was a small field, and I know they were turf horses, but still, she was pretty impressive.

“I won’t have as many ginger lozenges, I can tell you,” he added regarding future off-the-turf decisions. “I was opening myself up for some scrutiny from so many smart people that had things to say.

“I have been on the phone over 50 times, and about 25 were for (Nitrogen). We were discussing should we scratch, what would we do, how would it set up? We finally said, well, we’re just going to have to (do it). So let’s give it a try, let’s find out now, so we did it, and it worked out. 

“One of the decisions made was we want her in this pattern, and I talk about it all the time. I’ve got her in a pattern, and I didn’t want to lose that.”

Indeed, Nitrogen is in the zone. Third in the Natalma (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) as a maiden, the bay broke through in the Jan. 4 Ginger Brew S. at Gulfstream Park, and she hasn’t looked back. Nitrogen added the Florida Oaks (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs, the Appalachian (G2) at Keeneland, and the Edgewood (G2) at Churchill Downs. The Wonder Again advanced her record to 8-5-1-2, $1,146,604.

Pennine Ridge S.

Mi Bago, Nitrogen’s stablemate, inherited the mantle of favoritism in the Pennine Ridge following the withdrawals of 6-5 morning-line favorite Zulu Kingdom, Flying Mohawk, and States’ Rights. But the 1.25-1 choice couldn’t complete the off-turf double for Casse.

Donegal Racing’s A. P. Kid, who was coming off a turf maiden score at Gulfstream, continued his ascent. Stalking Mi Bago through splits of :23.64, :46.92, and 1:11.18 on a track upgraded to muddy, the Todd Pletcher trainee let loose down the stretch in a dominant display. 

A. P. Kid widened his margin to 6 1/4 lengths while polishing off the mile in 1:36.83. The 3.40-1 third choice, piloted by John Velazquez, returned $8.80.

Golden Channel was third at every call. Next came Pletcher’s maiden Noble Confessor, Bulldoze, and Thirteen Colonies. In addition to the principal scratches, longshot Tom’s Magic was also withdrawn.

A. P. Kid had flopped in his career on the Gulfstream dirt, but his remote sixth to eventual Preakness (G1) runner-up Gosger was too bad to be true. The son of Honor A. P. prospered net out on turf, and proved his versatility back on the main track here. His resume now reads 3-2-0-0, $207,700.

“He’s a colt we’ve always thought a lot of,” Pletcher said. “He just recently disappointed us in his debut, so we switched to the grass, and it worked out, but he had been training so well on the dirt that we decided to give him another try. 

“We were a little unsure of the sloppy conditions, but we certainly felt like we needed to take a chance. I’m not sure where to (go) after this. We’ll see how he comes out of it and come up with a game plan.”

Bred by Parks Investment Group in Kentucky, A. P. Kid sold for $275,000 as a Keeneland September yearling. His dam, the War Front mare Lady Mamba, descends from multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire Versailles Treaty, who produced Grade 2 victor Saarland and 2012 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) hero George Vancouver.